Village of Lewiston: Trustees, Planning Board discuss plateau options

by jmaloni

Sat, May 21st 2011 10:00 am

by Joshua Maloni

Village of Lewiston Mayor
Terry Collesano called a special, informal meeting Monday with members of the
Village Board of Trustees and the Planning Board to brainstorm ideas for the
upper plateau off Portage Road.

"We have some 20-plus acres
at the plateau," Collesano said. "The (Village) Board doesn't have any sound
ideas (yet)."

The New York Power
Authority gifted 42-plus acres of land to the Village of Lewiston in 2008.
Collesano explained that almost half of that has since been allotted for
environmental research/habitat land and some was designated for the Lewiston
Dog Park. The remaining space is designated for recreational use, per NYPA's
deeding.

"What is the village trying
to accomplish?" Planning Board member Dave Maslen asked. "There's a lot of
things you can do up there."

She opined a small movie theater
or teen center would be a valued addition.

"Something to keep them
entertained," Symmonds said.

Collesano said "Family
Movie Night" would take place this year at the Red Brick gymnasium.

"That could tie into what
you're talking about," he said.

Planning Board member
Loretta Frankovitch suggested something similar to the Carnegie Science Center
in Pittsburgh, which she described as a cross between a teen Sportsplex (like
in North Tonawanda) and café. She also recommended something akin to Brown's Berry
Patch (near Rochester) and its giant trampoline.

"It's really just a fun
thing," she said. "The kids stay on there all day."

Planning Board Chairman
Dave Giusiana asked if the plateau was the best spot for a steel building.

"Where do we have usable land
in the village?" Maslen replied.

Giusiana warned that adding
a full-scale gym building would cost "phenomenal amounts of money." In addition
to safety and sanitary requirements, he said such a structure would also stick
out like a sore thumb on the plateau.

"It's going to be a wart on
that landscape," he said. "That's a bad spot to put a building."

Sutherland and Maslen said
a building could work, in theory, but when the deputy mayor suggested
skateboarding or ice hockey, both boards turned their attention to an open-air
concept.

Giusiana said small
bathrooms with holding tanks would be more feasible than a full locker room
with showers and related amenities. Those in attendance voiced the idea of
small warming shelters alongside outside hockey/skating/lacrosse rinks.

Giusiana, Collesano and
Planning Board member Ken Slaugenhoupt also asked about creating a cascading
walkway or stairs for patrons to access the land. Right now, many dog walkers
drive to the park, Giusiana said.

"These are good ideas,"
Collesano said. "This is what we're looking for."

He asked all board members
to come up with some additional ideas. Giusiana and Slaugenhoupt offered to
create a site plan so members could visualize what the land looks like and how
and where improvements can be made.

"Let's lay out what we've
got and see what we can do with it," Maslen said. "It's a great piece of
property. We've got to do the right thing with it."

No funding options were
discussed at the work session.

Regular Board Meeting

Following the plateau
conversation, trustees reassembled for their monthly meeting and approved the
following motions:

•A development plan for 315
Center St. Giusiana is working with professor Herbert Richardson on a
two-story, 1,000 square-foot office/storage building.